He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High ... The power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript 4Q246 reads:

“[X] shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him. He shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of the Most High.” (Dead Sea scrolls manuscript Q4Q246)

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS In Eastern Christianity Mary is referred to as Theotokos (Θεοτόκος="God-bearer"). The traditional Troparion (hymn for the day) of the Annunciation which goes back to Saint Athanasius of Alexandria is:

Today is the beginning of our salvation,

And the revelation of the eternal mystery!

The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin

As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace.

Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos:

"Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!"

IN THE QU'RAN The Annunciation is described in the Qur'an, in Sura 003:045 (Al-i-Imran – The Family of Imran) verses 45-51 (Yusuf Ali translation):

45Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;"

And Sura Template:Cite Qur'an (Maryam – Mary) verses 16-26 also refers to it. Muslim tradition holds that the Annunciation took place during the month of Ramadan.[10] In the Qur'an "behold an angel of the Lord has spoken. " Mary will bear the true Son of God" "He will be called Jesus Christ." "His domain is over the entire Earth.""Joy to you, behold His Holy name."

**The feast of the Annunciation is usually held on March 25; it is moved in the Catholic Church, Anglican and Lutheran liturgical calendars when that date falls during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches do not move the feast, having special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast; in fact in these churches a Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Good Friday when it coincides with the Annunciation.

When the calendar system of Anno Domini was first introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new year to March 25 since, according to Catholic theology, the era of grace began with the Incarnation of Christ. The first certain mentions of the feast are in a canon, of the Council of Toledo (656), where it is described as celebrated throughout the church., and another of the Council of Constantinople "in Trullo" (692), forbidding the celebration of any festivals during Lent, excepting the Lord's Day (Sunday) and the Feast of the Annunciation. An earlier origin has been claimed for it on the ground that it is mentioned in various works of which the earliest surviving manuscripts are later and may have been added to

Giovanni Lanfranco 1582-1647 - The Annunciation

orthodox Annunciation Icon, Ohrid, 14th Century

Islam Virgin Mary and Jesus, old Persian miniature. In Islam, they are called Maryam and Isa.

The Koran mentions Mary 34 times, and names an entire chapter after her Sura 19-- more than she gets in the Bible, according to Cruden's Complete Concordance. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Koran, and some scholars say Muslims actually revere her more than Christians do.